Edinburgh City Council is trialling a ban on motor traffic around several primary schools at the beginning and end of the school day, in a move that could lead to a city-wide ban.
The pilot scheme bans cars from exclusion zones around six schools for an hour at drop off and pick up times each school day for 18 months, in attempts to boost road safety and encourage active travel to school.
The trial started last week outside Abbeyhill, Duddingston, Colinton, Cramond and St John's RC primary schools from Tuesday, with Sciennes primary to introduce the ban in October.
At the end of the trial the city council will decide whether the roll-out the scheme across more schools.
The schools were chosen after they reported road safety issues with congestion. Sharon McGhee, acting headteacher at Colinton Primary School, told the BBC: ‘The whole idea behind it is we reduce the level of traffic that comes near the school entrances. We are hoping if we do that, children and their families will scoot, cycle or walk to school and it will make it safer for them to enter school.’
